Sandema hospital appeals for replacement of rotten, leaking roof

Sandema Hospital in the Builsa North Municipality of the Upper East Region has appealed to the Government to re-roof the facility as most of its units leak when it rains.

Apart from the Newborn Care Unit (NBCU), theatre and emergency ward, the rest of the wards, including the pharmacy unit, laboratory, dressing rooms and the Medical Superintendent's office leak.

Portions of the hospital's 21-bed capacity maternity ward, which was full, with some patients on the floor, were the most affected following a downpour on Saturday night which lasted for about nine hours.

If not for the swift intervention of midwives on duty, who used buckets to consistently collect the rainwater from the leaking roof, the entire ward would have flooded and brought healthcare delivery at the unit to a standstill.

Dr Emmanuel Opoku, the Medical Superintendent of the Hospital who had on many occasions appealed through the GNA in the Municipality for support to renovate the facility, said no help had so far been offered.

“Everywhere leaks; the Medical Superintendent's office leaks, children's ward, maternity and all the wards leak. So we wish it could be re-roofed,” he said.

He noted that it was capital intensive to re-roof the facility, and management could not afford the cost.

The children's ward, male medical and female wards, pharmacy unit, dressing rooms and nurses' station at the Out-Patient Department (OPD) and the laboratory, leaked when the Ghana News Agency visited.

The waiting area for patients at the pharmacy unit was not spared.

Staff on duty in the affected units had to pull away beds and equipment from areas where the rainwater dropped, to prevent mattresses from getting wet and any damage to medical equipment.

Apart from the leakages, the GNA observed that there were broken louvre blades, faulty doors, exposed electrical cables, visible cracks on walls, and broken tiles on the floor.

A client, who had delivered at the maternity ward, and pleaded anonymity, expressed concern about the state of leakage at the ward and appealed to authorities to, fix the problem.

“How can a maternity ward be leaking like this; it is unbelievably bad and not comfortable and safe laying here with these newborn babies in this rainy season. I cannot wait to be discharged,” the woman of about 28-years said.

Relatives of some patients at the OPD and the female ward equally expressed similar concerns about the deplorable state of the hospital and called for an immediate solution to the problem.

Even though stakeholders at different fora in the Municipality had over the years appealed for support to renovate the 93-year-old hospital to befit its status as a referral centre for the Municipality and beyond, there has not been any response.

GNA